Things Unseen
by Darknightdestiny
Summary: [Lucca x Magus] Desperate to save Crono, Lucca strikes a deal with a bluehaired devil. But she's going to get more than she bargained for...
1. A Hero's Struggle

**Things Unseen, Chapter One:**

**A Hero's Struggle**

By Darknightdestiny 

Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Trigger or the characters involved. They are the property of Squaresoft. If I did own them, I'd be rich, because I'd also own Final Fantasy…hmmm….

Now let's begin.

Everything was a bitter cold atop the craggy slope. The wind bit into the skin of all who dared to venture that high above the ground, and numbness was the result. Pink skin, blue lips and a stinging sensation spread over a numbed surface of tissue.

Numbness and…shock.

Could it be? No, it couldn't be, it just couldn't! There was no way…

The bruised and beaten girl took a step forward, her short lavender hair whipping about her face, right hand trailing lightly and hesitantly over her pistol. With a trembling voice, she spoke. 

"You…can't be! How is that possible? Y…you're him?!"

The only reply that she received was silence, and for a while she had felt a certain embarrassment for even daring to speak. What were they even doing, standing there? What could they expect? They could get nothing from this man, the one the townspeople had called the "Great Sorcerer of the Southern Lands," more infamously known simply as the "Magus".

For that is what he was, and he needed no other title. The name said it all; he was…the most powerful sorcerer in all the age, and now she tried to envision his words, but they just were not making sense. That was when she remembered…

What the old man had said back in the shelter of the village.

'A gate…' she thought to herself, perhaps even whispered aloud. She could not be sure.

"You really are, aren't you?"

She was surprised when he turned to face them, a look of contempt on his face and his eyes glowing a terrifying shade of crimson. His mouth was twisted into a scowl that suggested permanence and his eyes sunk deep into his skull with fatigue. His eyes were wet, not with sadness, but because of strained tear-ducts; it was as if he had not slept in decades. The effect was that of his eyes appearing as pools of freshly spilled blood.

His mouth cracked open and he smirked quite insanely; it scared her out of her wits, but for more reasons than one.

The first reason it scared her was because of the fact that during their previous battle with the wizard, the room had been dark…so very dark. She had barely been able to see his face, but could only detect the faint white gleaming of his sharp canines and the slightly brighter glow of his eyes. The rest of him had been cast in shadow, a silent silhouette against the eerie blue flames.

The second reason was different. Behind his ghastly white pallor, she could almost feel his skin crawling with conflicting urges. It was that he was making her skin crawl, rather, she felt that it was his she felt. Suddenly, looking at him, she could see the resemblance and it frightened her that she was capable of warping the child's image in her own mind so easily. That evil smirk reminded her of the proud and sullen face of the young boy when he was complaining about the state of the Earthbound villagers humble dwellings in Terra Cave.

"…Oh, yes… I am he. Does that surprise you, little girl?"

Her mouth trembled in response, unsure of what to say. It was definitely not what she had come to expect; the connection had never crossed her mind. Then again, she hadn't seen him before…

"We were told…that someone had come around the village, wanting to see us…" came a soft voice, the words being choked out amongst sobs. "Was that…you?" The crying had died down as the thought had been expressed, and both conversers turned to the source of the cries. Further down the slope, the limp body of a slender girl dressed in white petticoat top and pants was slumped to its knees in despair, wracked with soft sobbing and fits of trembling.

"Whatever would make you think it so?" tempted the wizard, one eyebrow arching slightly upward. He coaxed her to the brink of insanity with his vagueness. She wanted answers, and she would not give in until she had found some sort of clue, some small ray of hope.

"…Why…?" she whispered, her breath carried away by the wind, barely audible to any of the others.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he snickered. He turned away again, gazing out upon the recently disturbed ocean, now covered in an unnatural and sudden calm. 

The first girl stepped forward, timidly challenging his arrogance. She was scared, but she was also furious, and she was not going to let this go, either.

"Why didn't you do anything?! Tell me that, why don't you! This…this is all your fault! You could've done something to change this…you knew! You knew and you did nothing! It's because of you that Crono-"

"Crono was a fool."

"How dare you!"

"He was messing with a power that he did not understand. I would have thought you'd have learned that by now. Pity it took such a tragedy to bring this to your attention. However…if you do not turn back now, you will end up dead as well. And no one- no one at all- will remember your heroism."

"We are doing this for the world! We're doing this for all living things… so that people can have a future! We're trying to preserve our own race! You have no right to tell us to turn away from them…you've no right-"

"I have every right to say that and more. Or have you forgotten already? You failed to defeat the beast. There was nothing you could do. What makes you think that you have a chance?"

"No! You failed! You're the one who failed, you didn't do a thing, and you had all the means to! Instead you waited until there was no way to stop it!"

Soft laughter could be heard from his direction- soft, insane laughter, carried backwards to her on the wind. The gentle sound caressed her ears, and then moved to sear them with fire as it arose in volume, becoming maniacal, almost a shout. Then it died abruptly before his voice came back to taunt her once more.

"You are much to kind. You would never believe me, even if I told you how much I truly did fail at my attempt. So, I ask you again, what makes you think that you have a chance?"

_What do you think you can do?_

"That…beast…" the girl tried to reason, "was at the peak of its power. If we go to the era of its emergence, it should be considerably weakened, because of the disaster in this time period…"

"You will never beat it as you are. Pity… I can see you will not be dissuaded. And to lose your lives at so young an age…"

The girl wanted to rip the man limb from limb. Who was he to deny them their chance? Who did he think he was to berate them for only wanting to help? At least they cared for the people of their planet. But she had to calm herself; now was not the time to get into a fight, not with her friends in the condition they were in, physically and emotionally as well. 

"I'll tell you something, girl. The gurus held such thoughts as yours. They tried to oppose this monstrosity. Can you guess what happened to them?"

"They're alive, you know…"

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed." He snorted. "I hadn't noticed, because I was busy rotting away in an uncivilized, forsaken hole! And I had nothing to do with the entire ordeal! Do you think for one second, that you will be safe in opposition of such a power, when those who have nothing to do with it are so easily removed?"

"But that is why we are fighting! We're fighting for people who can't fight for themselves! We're fighting for people…like you…"

"Silence. I do not need, nor do I want your pity. I am only warning you; turn back now or face certain doom. No one will come to save you when you lie dying at the foot of evil given that most horrifying form."

"You could have… if you really cared at all."

"I did not come here to save _you_."

"Or your people? Why did you come here, then?"

"Oh, but it's so much simpler than that." He snorted in contempt of himself. "I came here for revenge, plain and simple. But I suppose it was not meant to be…"

"And now the beast is weakened…"

"It would appear so."

"But think of the cost! All those people who died…"

"Do you not think that I know the cost? I know all too well. I did lose everything I ever knew, after all."

"Well, I lost something important too."

"Hmph. It seems you have quite a bit of growing left to do. That idiot paid for his foolishness with his life. He only got what was coming to him because he ventured into something that did not concern him in the least. You would do well to learn from his mistake. What's done is done; sentimentalism will get you nowhere here."

"Thou vilest of villains!" The new voice came from beside the second, crying young woman, from the cursed knight kneeling next to her, attempting to comfort her in her time of loss. All eyes fell on him, including those of the dark mage. 

"I speak only the truth."

The knight pushed himself up from the snowy ground and drew his sword, venturing forward. "Magus, hold thy tongue!"

"…Play with fire, and you get burned. This is the way of life."

"Thou callest the lad a fool, when he hath saved all our lives, even thine own! And thou speakest of his sacrifice as if it were for naught!" The warrior advanced on the wizard, enraged at his cruelty and at the wry humor the enemy had seemed to find in the death of his comrade- no…his friend.

The warlock looked at him, sneering at him, mocking him. "You wish to fight me?"

"Indeed!"

And with that one word, the knight charged the mage with all his might, aiming the mythical sword straight for his heart. But the noble warrior had let his anger get to his head, and found that his hastiness in battle would quickly bring his end if he did not regain his composure. The valiant charge was executed beautifully, only to be blocked by the enemy's scythe, which materialized out of thin air as the Masamune was only inches away from hitting its mark. The knight staggered back, breathing heavily after only one attack.

"…You will have to do much, much better than that!" jeered the Magus.

The sorcerer conjured up a lightning spell and hurled it at the knight, who rolled out of its path just as it struck the ground, leaving several snowy potholes in its wake. The knight staggered to his feet just in time to avoid another barrage of spells, this time of the element of fire. He avoided the intended incineration, but received some nasty burns on his unprotected arms, while his leg of his trousers caught fire, the flames licking at his flesh underneath. 

The knight managed to snuff out the fire with a hasty water spell and quickly regained his footing on the ledge. The wizard gripped his scythe tightly and advanced on the swordsman, backing him towards the east ledge of the precipice. The knight circled round quickly to the left, and jabbed at the sorcerer's right side with his sword, but the mage dodged it quickly and leapt backwards, steadying himself on the snowy ground.

The Magus then summoned up an ice spell, focusing all the energy towards the knight's footing, throwing a bit of the water element to the mix hoping to immerse his legs and trap him to the ground in time to strike the final blow. The knight's flung himself to the side, dodging that one as well and almost throwing himself off of the west side this time. He was unbalanced, and thus vulnerable to any attack, physical or magical. 

The mage flew at him relentlessly and the knight held up his sword, blocking the fierce blow from the instrument of death. A fiery pain shot throughout his arms as the metals clashed against each other, neither about to give way to the pressure that was growing between them. The knight adjusted his footing over and over again, slowly bringing the two fighters away from the cliff's edge. He flung himself sharply to the right, breaking out from under the cruel implement, and receiving a hideous gash on his left shoulder.

The blood was hot, and flowed freely from his arm, but he could not break away from the fight for long enough to call up a healing spell. The two girls, silent observers the entire time, stepped forward in protest, ready to help him. The girl in white had a cure spell already flowing through her fingertips when the knight called back to them.

"Stop!" he cried, in between strikes. "This is my battle…" he jabbed again at the wizard, "Leave this to me!"

The wizard tangled the warrior's sword with his scythe in that precise moment and leaned down into his ear. His icy breath quietly issued the words into his ear, a menacing whisper…

"You too, will die."

The mage flung himself backwards and glared at the knight, daring him to continue. The knight merely looked on, not letting his guard down. He would not make the same mistake again.

The two circled each other for what seemed like hours to the two bystanders, though it was only the span of a few minutes. The knight held his shoulders back, his sword down by his hip, ready to swing at will. The wizard, however, moved in an inhuman manner. His shoulders were hunched up around his neck and angled forwards, protecting the soft flesh connecting his shoulders to his head. His steps were quiet, even though he had nothing to hide, and left no indentations in the snow, almost as if he were floating in mid-air. The overall impression was that of a deadly, animal predator. 

Without warning, the knight lunged forward. The wizard's keenly trained senses picked up on this movement, but it was much too late. However, the knight let up on his sword suddenly, and threw his body weight against the man instead, knocking him to the ground. The warrior leapt onto his victim, pinning him to the ground with his knee dug deep into the man's chest. He raised his sword high above his head, ready to strike the final blow…

And he heard a blood-curdling shriek from behind.

He chanced a quick glance over his shoulder and saw his two friends; the young girl in white, who had already seen so much bloodshed and had been brought near to the point of breaking, was sitting back on her knees once again, her head turned into the outside of the other's leg; her eyes were tightly shut, and she winced in anticipation of the coming end. But the screaming hadn't come from her.

Standing next to her was the other girl, the one who had been so brave before in spite of her fears. The one who had been the strength for the other…

She held her face in her hands, afraid to watch. Her shoulders were trembling at a faster pace than the shoulders of the other girl when she cried, and her legs shook beneath her. It seemed as if at any moment she would collapse in the snow. He even thought that he could hear her sobbing into her hands.

A shout from the other end of his sword shocked him back to the situation at hand.

"Do it!" shouted the Magus. "What are you waiting for?!" He raged like a madman, "Kill me!!"

The knight just stared at him.

"Kill me!!" he screamed. Did he really want to die?

But the knight continued to stare. He looked back once more at the violet-haired girl; she was still holding her head in her hands, and she was shaking her head back and forth, like she was trying to wake from some horrible nightmare. And this time he could hear her crying audibly and knew it wasn't just his imagination. The cries were real.

It was so different, trying to kill a human being…

And he'd always anticipated and feared this moment at the same time, because he knew he wouldn't be able to do it. He just couldn't kill another human being. And he looked into the eyes of the raving man beneath his knee…and he saw…

A little boy.

The man continued to wretch beneath him, breathing heavily and gasping for air. He screamed with all he had left within him over and over.

"Fool! You've waited your entire life for this moment; now end it once and for all! Kill me, now!"

It was an awful, mad scream that reeked of insanity. His air gurgled with liquid from deep within him, fueling his scream to an awful vibration that made the knight's scaly skin crawl. Yet he could not bring himself to kill the man, though he hated him so.

"Do it!!"

The victorious warrior flung his sword to the side, landing it in the snow, white flakes floating up all around it at impact.

"What are you doing…!" shrieked the mage.

His screams were cut short when the knight brought his left fist back and struck the wizard square in the jaw, sending his face to the side, lain against the cold. The Magus lay silent, panting with his mouth slightly parted and bleeding into the snow and onto his silver-blue strands. His breaths were short and ragged, and the glow of his eyes was suddenly dull. 

"Why…" he said between gasps, "didn't you kill me…?"

The knight stood up and turned, his cape whirling about him in the wind. "Thy pride hath been thy fall. My debt is repaid. Farewell, thou poor soul."

The knight walked away, down off of the slope and the girl in white shot the disheveled mage one quick glance and then ran after her friend, perhaps in fear. The other girl lingered a bit longer, staring at the magician. He did not move or acknowledge her presence, only stared at the ground in front of him with a sullen face of defeat. Even in defeat, it seems she could detect a hint of pride in his expression, however. It looked more like morose contemplation than sheer disappointment.

The violet-haired girl turned away, feeling a mixed pang of feelings towards him; she was angry that he couldn't feel, couldn't care. She also felt something else towards him…

Pity.

Sir Glenn, Nadia Guardia and Lucca Ashtear walked away from North Cape in silence.

(A/N): Hmmm, I don't know, tell me what you think! Should I continue it? My heart says "yes"! I may just anyways, but I'd still like to hear what everybody has to say!


	2. A Leader's Decision

**Things Unseen, Chapter 2:**

**A Leader's Decision**

By Darknightdestiny 

"Look! Frog!" shouted Ayla excitedly. She banged on the side of the humanoid standing next to her, before snatching her hand away again in pain.

"Miss Ayla," replied the man of steel, "I understand that you require sustenance, but I hardly think that this is the time to-"

"No! You funny…RAW BOOT!" she spluttered in frustration. "There! There frog! Over there!" She waved her arms in the specified direction, directing the robot's attention away from his oilcan.

Robo adjusted his sensors, finally focusing on three figures making their way towards the Epoch, where their friends awaited them. 

"Ah! They have returned to us once more!" he bleeped.

The cavewoman wasted no time, and bounded over to her friends, embracing them. Frog was too sullen to return her embrace; Lucca winced, feeling her petite bones beginning to crack; Marle was much too tired and emotionally drained to even care if she snapped in half.

Ayla noticed this change in her friends; Marle had been especially distressed after Crono's death, but she had been determined when she had set off to find him. She had taken charge, and announced that no one would be leaving until they had done all they could in the Dark Ages. But now, she seemed so broken once again. 

"What wrong?"

Frog spoke up. "'Tis nothing that thou shouldst worry thine pretty head over, lass."

"Huh? What you say?"

"He means," said Lucca, "Don't worry about it."

Ayla frowned. "Ayla no dummy. Lucca say, 'Big cliff, last hope'. What you find?"

Lucca sighed. "Nothing. Big, fat nothing."

Ayla huffed and pouted, knitting her brows in frustration. She bit her lip and blew some hair out of her face; this went on for a while, and then her eyes darted back over to Lucca.

"What now? What you do, Lucca?"

"I…what?"

"I believe," stated the robot, "that Miss Ayla has just appointed you to be our new leader."

Lucca shot Marle a glance, as if she was asking permission to mug the poor girl. Whatever she was asking, it was reluctant; she didn't feel ready to take all of this on her shoulders. But she could do it if she had to. She could do something to help, now that Crono was gone; she owed him that much. She just felt at a loss for words, or for a plan.

"Lucca, you should do it," Marle said, softly. "You're the brains behind this entire operation. We can't do anything without you here; you might as well take charge."

Lucca contemplated this for a while. Marle would never be able to lead the group, much as she thought the position belonged to her. She had had too much taken out of her already, but she had done enough. She had been so strong, for so long, even when they had been thrown into the makeshift storage-room prison of the Blackbird. Crono would have been proud, to have seen her fly at Dalton in the way that she did.

She finally nodded her head. From now on, the rest would depend on her. She would do this for him…for Marle.

"Alright. I'll do it."

"Good, Lucca! What now?" asked Ayla. She was becoming impatient with the lack of direction already exhibited by their new leader.

"Well…" began Lucca, "um…first, we should go to the Epoch. There's nothing left for us here, and we might be able to do something in another era to effect this…tragedy. The old man at the End of Time might be able to help us; he's been useful so far, and he's never steered us wrong."

"Methinks we've found a plan," said the frogman, and he walked towards the ladder protruding from the left wing of the ship.

Ayla whooped and rushed to follow, darting around the feet of the warrior, looking like some wild cat.

Marle looked up at Lucca from where her eyes had previously rested at her feet and gave a small, forced smile. "Don't worry," she said, aware of the uneasiness that was shown in the other girl's face, "you're doing just fine."

"…I hope so."

"You are. Don't worry…everything will be all right. Everyone here trusts you-"

"Oh, great."

"…That's supposed to be a good thing, Lucca."

"What if I end up leading us all to our deaths?"

"That's not going to happen. You're smart, Lucca. Smarter than the rest of us could ever hope to be…"

"What about Robo?"

"Lucca, Robo's not real. He's only a robot. Even though he makes a good friend…"

"You know, sometimes I forget that."

Marle smiled at the other girl. "A machine can only be as good as its maker allows it to be. But you…" she pointed at Lucca's forehead, "I'm beginning to think that there's no end to your brains. That's what makes you special. And that's why we need your help."

Marle's words were comforting to Lucca's nerve-ridden spirit, yet they lacked their old cheerful spark. What Lucca wouldn't give to hear Marle's voice turn back to the way it used to be. What she wouldn't give to see every one of them smiling again, and to have Crono lead them back to that ship, for their last trip.

Home…she wanted to go home.

"…Marle?"

"I trust you," Marle finished, and then walked slowly to where the others were waiting at the base of the vehicle.

"You know," Lucca whispered to herself, in a voice the princess would never have caught, even if she had been listening for it, "you can be pretty smart yourself sometimes."

They had all changed so much in so little time. After the incident at the palace, they had all known that not one of them would ever be the same. Marle, especially, had changed; this change had been a double-edged sword. Previous to the disaster, the young girl had been out for adventure, not for blood. She had been lively, and full of sunshine; she had always been able to cheer up any of the other group members if they had been down, gaining the identity of the "comforter" of the bunch.

Now, however, she was the one who needed consolation, but none could be given. She was much too exhausted to fight with all her heart, and the one time that she had brought herself to do so since Crono's death, she hadn't been in her right mind. Her spirit had been broken, and she wasn't sure if she would ever find the pieces, much less know where they fit. With Crono gone, a big part of her was missing, a part she had taken for granted until now. Sure, she had fun with Crono, and sure, they got along wonderfully. But she had been too caught up in the moment, too afraid of ruining that friendship; she had been afraid of losing the first person that had ever looked at her and seen the person inside, instead of the crown on her head.

So afraid that she had never had the chance to tell him how she really felt about him. This is what tore her up inside, never knowing, and never being able to see his face light up again. She wanted his face to light up for her, wanted to see him happy because of her. She had wanted to be the one to make him truly happy in life…

And now she would never know.

Even though this realization brought a sense of maturity, even though she had realized what had truly been important in her life, she had found out much too late. There is a saying that the best things in life are never realized until they have passed the bearer by. Marle had now felt the devastating truth behind that saying, and she could never deny the value of knowing that; had she understood it much earlier, had she known what was going to happen, she would have taken her chances.

But now…

Now, she would never know.

The Epoch began to lift off from the ground, and everyone was settled into their seats, ready for whatever was to come. They had already lost their leader, and they had come to expect casualties in their endeavor after all- at least that's what each of these told themselves as the snow began to swirl around the base of the pod. It was not as if any of them had anything left to lose, and each of them had been in this for the long run, even if it had meant death to them all. 

They knew the risks, and they had to regain their spirits somehow. None of them had the heart to fight for the future anymore, because the future looked bleak, regardless of their destination. It seemed selfish, this was true, but the loss of their friend had weighed heavily on their hearts. If they couldn't bring themselves to fight with everything they had, then they would fail, and the future would be lost forever. They were the planet's last hope…

The entire mission looked like a failure from where they sat, looking down at the destruction left behind by the beast, the unfamiliar vast expanse of water, where white terrain used to stretch out seemingly forever. Suddenly, forever seemed non-existent, and the world so finite. They levitated thirty feet above the ground, their own path laid out before them. Lucca's hand reached for the lever, as she prepared to take the first step towards salvation, or oblivion.

As soon as her fingertips brushed up against the leather covering, there was a deafening roar, and the ocean began to toss about. The surface of the water bubbled and rose like the fizz from an ale at the Dorino Town Tavern, and there was another roar, followed by another, as if a hundred whales were screaming bloody murder just beneath the surface. The roaring came to a full swell before settling into a mechanical groan which reminded Lucca of the sound the pressurized chamber in her living room would make when she shifted the balance too far in favor of one side- only a thousand times louder.

There was a bright light growing in diameter beneath the surface of the waves, and it continued to grow until a smooth, metal surface broke free from the depths, a blinding array of white reflecting from every angle. The structure grew larger as it emerged, like an iceberg dragged from its resting place in the cold seas; the tip was relatively small, compared to the whole. The smooth peak descended into a sloped mountain of metal with twisted barbs jutting out of every side, grotesque and broken architecture cutting the chilly air like death's fingers raking across the sky.

Eerie lights shone from the bulk like a thousand insect eyes; a strange pulsating glow of green and purple, disturbingly soothing to the eyes, yet unsettling to the soul. The mechanical wails grew louder with its continued emergence until one great and final shudder was given by the craft as it broke free from the icy water. The entire atmosphere grew calm after that, and the sea was still. There were no birds in the sky, and the air was stagnant. 

All members of the group recognized this structure that now loomed over them, its base a giant plate of wiring.

The Ocean Palace…

Lucca moaned at the sight of it; after all they had been through, the evil they had fought against and lost their brave leader to still existed. No matter what they did, it seemed that their problems would never disappear. She couldn't help wondering if this was a foreshadowing of their final fight, a sign resigning them to an inevitable fate.

Marle's eyes darted from the "Omen" to Lucca, and then back again. Unsure of what to say or do, so many mixed thoughts still inside her, she waited for someone, anyone else, to say something.

It was Ayla who spoke first.

"Ayla no like boat!"

"Aye," replied the frog, "'tis a sign of evil. And evil must be dealt with!"

"…We are not ready," sighed Lucca.

"I would agree with Miss Lucca," the robot sounded. "We have not prepared, and we must recuperate…we were not able to defeat this force the last time, and we are now short a companion. Obviously, the power of Lavos is much stronger than we feared."

Being a robot, Robo's forte was not set on human emotions, but rather on stating the facts of the matter at hand; this was something he had struggled with for a long time since joining the group, always wanting to be like the rest of his friends. But no one seemed to notice, already having been lost in their thoughts over the matter at hand, and so they let it slide.

The group sat still, watching the floating mass for a while, unsure of what to do with this unexpected turn of events. It was a while before Lucca finally decided that staring was getting them nowhere, and they still had another task at hand. "Not without Crono," she said.

Marle's eyes lit up with hope and she raised her head to meet the eyes of her friend, which were set on her own still form. In her own silent way, Lucca was letting Marle know that she was hoping in the impossible for her sake. And for that, Marle was grateful. She would always have a close friend that she could count on to be more than just an ally in battle.

"We've come this far," continued the scientist, "and we're not going to finish this without him. We've traveled through the span of millions of years! I'm sure there's still something we can do."

Marle smiled back at Lucca, showing her appreciation of the gesture and the speech, even if she still had doubts on whether or not they would be successful. Lucca smiled back, and then turned back to the control panel, intent on sending them back to the End of Time, where hopefully, they would get some answers.

(A/N): I have…decided to continue this fic. I'm a little uneasy about the standard I set myself up with in the first chapter, and I'm not sure whether or not I can live up to it, but I'm sure going to try. And all you Magus fans, don't worry, because as the summary states, he'll be around shortly. Next chapter, in fact.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews, I was happy to get 9 for one chapter, and I'm really hoping that people will continue to read this. Sorry I left you all hanging in uncertainty for as long as I did, but I'll try to get the next chapters in a bit quicker. I had a writer's block…

So now the pressure's on…


	3. Fate Gets Twisted

**Things Unseen, Chapter 3:**

**Fate Gets Twisted**

By Darknightdestiny 

Lucca's wrist moved again to the lever, as her other hand was busy flipping switches and setting coordinates. She turned the dial all the way to the right until she heard a definite clicking sound, then a second telling her that she'd reached the end of the timeline. She moved forward to press the button…

And she stopped.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a form down below, making its way to shore. When it reached the shore it stopped, and began making signs in the sky, as if it were preparing to cast a spell. Lucca strained her eyes to see if her suspicions were correct. They were.

Magus…

Lucca voided all of her careful calculations and landed the ship, the grinding sounds of the engine coming to a rest and leaving the rest of her party in confusion.

"Miss Lucca, why are we stopping?" asked the robot.

Lucca didn't say one word. Instead, she released the hatch on the ship and pulled back the glass, it's smooth material making a swift shuffle against the padding that insulated the pressured chamber. When that was done, she stood there in place for a bit, then hopped down and walked off.

"…Why do you suppose she did that?" Marle finally spoke up.

Ayla jumped up in her seat and leaned over the edge of the craft, looking into the distance, where Lucca was headed.

"That man. Ayla don't know."

Frog came to stand by her. "What dost thou…mean…" he trailed off as he squinted his eyes in the direction that Lucca was taking. "Lady Lucca!" he shouted, "Hast thou lost thy senses?!"

"Frog talk funny," Ayla laughed.

"I fear for thy safety…" he said softly to Lucca, as if she could hear his now silent pleas from where she was.

"What wrong, green man?" asked the cavewoman.

"Magus…"

"Oh. That blue-haired one? One from boat?"

"Indeed."

"What he want?"

"I haven't the knowledge…but I intend to-"

"Wait!" shouted Marle, just as Frog was lifting his leg over the edge of the ship, about to run after the scientist. He cast a look at her that said, 'Why not? Are you sure you're feeling okay? This is Magus we're talking about here!' Marle caught his drift and continued, "We should let her handle this on her own."

"Blue man hurt Lucca?" asked Ayla.

"I don't think so…" said Marle.

Frog was in shock, hearing this come from the princess. "Thou wouldst let her run to her death?" 

"I think…" said Marle, "that if she wanted us to come with her, she would have asked us to go."

Robo piped up, "Mistress Marle is correct. It would not be wise to start another battle at this moment."

"Besides," said Marle, "we already fought him and won. I don't think he would have the energy to fight us right now."

Frog relaxed a bit, but his guard was still up.

"If there's trouble," Marle continued, "We'll go after her."

Ayla turned to Frog. "Frog fight man with long hair? What he do?"

"Hey!" called Lucca. "What do you think you're doing?! You had better not be communing with that thing, because I'll have you know, if I have to take you down all by myself, I will-"

"Silence!" shouted the figure before her, his back still turned.

Lucca swallowed the lump in her throat, which had formed from her rushed shouting and a bit of fear. Never did she think she would have the courage to say something like that to Magus. All was quiet, and he had returned to tracing his patterns in the sky. She just waited and watched, for about five more minutes.

"…What are you doing?"

Magus sighed in obvious annoyance. "You're still here."

"Yes."

"Leave."

"What? No!" she shouted. "What are you doing out here?"

"Look. An ice bridge is extremely hard to construct, nevermind the difficulty that comes when a child is hounding you."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"I'll only say it once more."

"How about I pistol-whip you?" Apparently she had a bit more courage than she thought.

He smiled in amusement, despite the task set before him. "…You are welcome to try."

Lucca hesitated. "…Nevermind that. What do you need the bridge for?" She looked ahead of him at the floating palace, and her eyes grew wide. "You're not seriously thinking of going up there, are you?!"

"I have unfinished business."

"You're going to die if you go up there. You've got to know that, right? You can't do it! She'll crush you!"

He turned and eyed her skeptically, one eyebrow raised. "And this bothers you because?"

Lucca paused, unsure of what to say. Why should she care? He had hurt them all in one way or another, so why shouldn't she just let him meet his fate? If Zeal didn't do it, she was sure it would one day be up to them, so why not?

She still felt sorry for him.

One side of his mouth twisted upwards into an evil smile. "Do you pity me?" Her eyes met his and she was afraid to answer. "I think you do. I can see it in your eyes…"

She averted her gaze to the ground, where his foot stood, still wary of any sudden movements on his part.

"…Don't go up there…"

"Why not?"

"You'll die…"

"And? I thought you were supposed to be my enemy. I must say, I'm disappointed in you." He laughed. "You betray your friends to help me?"

"You know there's nothing left for you here."

"Wrong!" he became more angry than agitated. "I am going to finish this, and I don't want your pity!"

"You'll never make it alone…"

"As I recall, I was doing just fine until your group of misfits showed up."

"You don't even have a cover anymore…"

"And why would I need that?" He turned back towards the sea. "I'm out for blood this time, and not just… his. So I'd suggest you stay out of my way."

Lucca mustered what little bravery she had left. "You won't hurt me."

"Oh?" he asked casually, trying to continue his spell, still facing the sea. "And why is that?"

"Because if you do, the others will run over here and take you out faster than you can say, 'Lucca was right, I'm going to die.'"

"So that's your name," he mused, still unfazed.

"…Yes."

"Well then, Lucca. Go away."

"If you're going to be such a stubborn ass," she fumed, "then I'm going with you!"

He whirled on her. "You think that you stand a chance when you're so sure that I don't?"

"You think you're so much better than us…"

"Hmmm, I wonder?"

"You know what? You're not! Frog took you out all by himself…"

This stung his pride, but he didn't let it show. "And you think you can do the same?" He advanced on her, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Lucca continued, her voice a bit shaky. She couldn't back down now. And it was so far back to the ship. "We'll all come, then." 

'Think, Lucca,' she urged herself on, 'he's just the kid, right? Nothing scary about that…' She made herself look into his eyes again, and she wasn't so sure.

He stopped and looked her up and down. "You know you are not ready."

"In that case, you sure aren't." Almost regretting she'd let that slip from her mouth, Lucca was surprised she'd been able to talk with him this long without him ripping her head off. She didn't know for sure what had driven her out there, but she was starting to think that it was probably not the best idea. Silently, she wondered whether or not she would make it back to the ship. Nevermind that the others would kill Magus off- she still had to see her old friend again.

"I could take you out with one hand tied behind my back." His eyes wandered up to the floating palace. Lucca came to stand next to him, for what reason she didn't know. 

"Why don't you try and see what happens?" Must have been the adrenaline in her system. 

He glared down at her, ready to ruin her right then and there. 

"Not so tough without your flunkies, huh?" 

'I'm going to die…'

"If you were wise, you would start running now."

"Why don't you just show me? I'm sure the Great Magus could teach me a thing or two before I go to beat Lavos up."

He glared at her even more, his eyes tiny slits of white in the reflection of sun on snow. 

'I was right, I'm going to die.'

"If I ever had a student like you, I don't know what I'd do with myself."

"Kill yourself, maybe?" she squinted her eyes at him and smiled a sarcastic smile. Being around Magus sure had strange effects on her personality.

"Don't hold your breath. I have things I must do."

"Fine," she finally said. "You go in there, and you die. But we'll go destroy Lavos. It seems a waste, though…" she trailed off and walked back towards the ship, overjoyed that she could finally tear herself away from her strange compulsions and get herself out of there.

"See? That wasn't so bad," said Marle. "Look, nothing happened. She's fine!"

Frog watched Lucca's form returning to them. "'Aye, thou hath been correct." 

"What happen?" asked Ayla.

"Lucca's coming back. We're going to find Crono."

"Ayla no think so," said the cavewoman. 

"What?" asked Marle, and turned back to face Lucca's distant figure.

"Behind thee!" shouted Frog.

"What's he babbling about now?" Lucca wondered aloud, watching Frog wave his arms frantically in the air from the Epoch. He hopped down and started running towards her, his arms still waving.

"Behind thee, behind thee!"

Lucca turned around to see Magus following her. She stopped dead in her tracks. "What do you want?"

"I am coming with you."

"You think so?"

He smiled another one of his twisted smiles. "You seemed so eager to help me before."

"Indeed," she imitated him. Somewhere in the distance, a cursed knight was tackled by a scantily clad woman, and was now struggling to get to his feet as she half-buried him in the snow. No one seemed to notice.

"I know of a way that can bring him back…"

"Don't toy with me, oh great and evil one."

"I have no need to toy with anyone. But in return, you are bound to go with me to the Palace, where I will confront the queen."

"Wait just one minute. Who are you to tell us what to do?"

"Not them," he gestured with his head towards the ship and the two figures wrestling on the ground, "just you."

Lucca thought about this for a moment. It had been her idea in the first place, hadn't it? She couldn't make the others go along with it. 

Magus went on to say, "Lavos is on the other side of that gate."

"Gate?"

"The palace…is a gate. It leads to Lavos."

Lucca had a feeling she would be able to get some help from the rest of her party on this matter. Then again, having Magus around all the time might very well ruin the mood…

Mood? Ha! What mood? Misery? That already abounded. But still…she was trying to give them all a bit of hope. She hadn't really expected their hope to come in the form of a demon. And one who was getting the most out of this deal. Did he really think they were just going to leave the palace hanging there in the sky? Surely he knew they would take it down themselves later on. He was now along for the ride, trying to find some allies in his quest for revenge. Lucca definitely wasn't buying this. But…how could she put a measure of value to her friendship with Crono? If there was any chance of getting him back, even a small one…

She didn't really have time to answer, because Magus walked past her and over towards the ship, effectively dodging the knight and the cavewoman, who were still struggling for control on the snowy terrain.

"Unhand me, you heathen!" demanded the frog.

"Frog strong! But Ayla stronger! Much, much stronger!"

"'Tis not the time for horseplay…Ah! What business dost thou have?!"

Magus ignored him and walked over to the open hatch, levitating off of the ground and landing inside. Lucca heard a faint and familiar 'Eep!' coming from the open hatch. She ran over to the Epoch and climbed up the railing, landing inside as well, wanting to know the cause of Marle's distress. Magus stood in the back corner of the ship, next to the resting shell of the humanoid, alone and minding himself. Lucca chanced a glance at Marle, who was staring at the wizard's still form with wide eyes.

Marle motioned for Lucca to go over and meet her. "Lucca," she whispered, "what's he doing in here?"

"Treachery!" shouted Frog, as he climbed up into the ship. "He will smite us all as we slumber!"

Magus, no matter how much help he would need in defeating Lavos, began to have serious doubts about whether or not it was worth it to go with them.

Ayla was next to hop up into the craft. "What happen?"

"Fiend!" cried the knight. "I ask again, what business dost thou have-"

"Shut your mouth, tadpole."

Lucca looked over at Magus, who had just given out the insult. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'this is not happening. This is not going to happen!'

Frog stared at Magus, daring him to continue. But the wizard sunk to the floor and stretched his legs out in front of him, ready to start moving towards their next destination.

"Magus! If thou bringeth harm to-"

"Shut. Your. Mouth." Magus clipped the words. "I won't say it again."

Frog looked in astonishment towards Lucca, who stood before the pilot's seat and shrugged her shoulders back at him, as if to say, 'What can I do about it?' He shot a glare at Magus, who had already shut his eyes and come to an unsettling, suspicious calm. He then strode over to Lucca and whispered, "Why is mine enemy here?" 

"He's going to help us find Crono."

"Lies!" he hissed.

"Look. He's going to help us, and we're going to fight Lavos with him. This is the way it's working. I don't know what I think of it yet, and to tell you the truth, I'm to exhausted to even want to think right now."

"Lucca…"

"Things are going to be okay," she said, loud enough so that Marle, who was sitting by her side, could hear her. "This is going to work. It really will." 

(A/N): Ahem…worried a bit about how the characterizations are coming along. Please let me know what you think about them…

Like always, leave me an e-mail address or something if you could, so that I can thank you for your reviews! Unless, you know…that bothers you.

Thanks for reading!


	4. Unspoken Trust

**Things Unseen, Chapter 4:**

**Unspoken Trust**

**By Darknightdestiny**

The Epoch materialized with a soft hiss in the thick of the nothingness that surrounded the End of Time. Lucca watched the mists swirl around the outside of the window, kissing the glass as they went and leaving behind a cool trail of fog. She watched the beautiful scene with a wistful smile, thinking to herself on how strange it was that this very same sight used to cause a feeling of despair to wash over her.

Each ride was like a moment frozen in time. It took them long enough to reach their destination, but whenever they would get to where they were going, only seconds of time had passed them by. The journey felt like it had lasted an eternity, while in reality it had only been a fleeting moment.

There had been time enough to nap, and time enough to talk. There had been time for Frog to shoot Magus several glaring warnings, and there had been time for each pause in Lucca's observing the matter as she held her breath. And Magus had ignored every single one of them, having chosen instead to rest his eyes. The tension between those two had made Lucca extremely nervous.

Marle had spent the ride sending nervous glances between Lucca, Frog and Magus. She'd tried to hide her inner jumpiness because she'd known Lucca was being as assuring as she could be, but it showed through anyways. Ayla had slept, quite exhausted from her running around and her tumble with Frog, and Robo had shut himself off for the ride; there was no doubt that he would be quite surprised when he was rebooted, only to be found sitting next to the dark mage himself. Lucca would wait until Magus had left the cockpit before she restarted the machine. Still, she felt uneasy about letting him leave unattended by her.

She counted her blessings that she had been the one to go out and meet him. It would have been a complete and utter disaster if another of her teammates had spotted him first, knowing Ayla's curious nature- and the fact that she hadn't known his dark past- and Frog's tendency to want to split the Mystic king in two. Then again, she wondered if any of the others would have even gone out to him. To be completely honest with herself, she wasn't quite sure why she had done it.

Perhaps it was the pity she'd felt for him at the end of his battle with her friend, the cursed knight. Frog had a finishing deathblow ready and waiting for Magus ever since the day Cyrus had died. Now that he had been faced with the opportunity, he had found himself unable to finish the deed, and had let the wizard live. In a way, she felt sorry for the both of them, for closure was yet to be found. Still, she was a scientist, and she never underestimated the value of human life, no matter whose it was. She was glad that Frog had spared Magus' life.

She lifted the glass canopy from its place on the hood of the vehicle. The mist was cold to the touch, and it enveloped her body as soon as she stepped up from her seat. Strangely enough, that familiar feeling of despair did not wash over her. Instead, she felt a strange calm. 'I know everything will be alright,' she thought. 'Crono, if only you were here. You'd know what to do. I'm afraid they will lose trust in me; I don't want to let them down.' Even though she held doubts about what was going to happen to them, talking to Crono gave her a sense of comfort and hope, whether he could hear her or not.

She was pushed out of her quiet thoughts when a wash of cool material brushed past the left side of her body, sending a quick shiver up her spine. She looked to her left and saw the trail of a blue-violet cape flowing out before her, and Magus up ahead. He had continued on in a deathly silence without even acknowledging her presence; it seemed strange to her, to think that just a couple of hours ago, he was screaming on the ground in all his broken glory. He had sure recovered his pride quickly. She slumped back down in her chair, eyeing him warily as he checked out his new surroundings. Once she was sure he was going to stay calm and collected, she got up again and went to start up the humanoid.

Marle, Frog and Ayla walked out into the center of the square where the old man waited, while Lucca exited the vehicle with Robo following her. Magus was leaning against the railing by the stairs leading up from the ship. Lucca reached him and she let Robo continue on into the square, while she stayed behind to talk to him.

"Magus?"

He didn't answer her right away. He was staring past her, into the mists beyond the stone walkways, at something immaterial- something only he could see. Everything reminded him of the void; unlike Lucca, being in the End of Time reminded him of the nothingness that accompanied him wherever he went. No matter how far he looked into the empty expanse ahead of him, he couldn't pinpoint any one object, not even a floor or a sky; there was no horizon in this world. It seemed so surreal, he could hardly believe it existed, without trying to put the name of a spell to it. He was of the mind that everything need be explained by some means, or else it could not possibly be.

It was strange that he felt this way and Lucca did not, even though she was a scientist. She had seen enough in her travels with the others to make her believe that not everything could be explained with numbers. He wasn't so convinced. He hadn't felt anything with his heart for a long time, and now that he'd been thrown back into the grip of fate and time, he wasn't sure how he was going to deal with seeing his past tragedy come to life again before his eyes.

"…Magus."

His eyes shifted to her face and focused. Once that was finished, he'd acknowledged her presence and had nothing left to do but wait for her question; he let his eyes wander back to the floor, and with them he trailed the patterns of the cobblestone walkway.

"Magus…are you going to just stand here?"

"As opposed to…?"

"…Aren't you going to go up there with us and figure out what we're going to do next?"

"I thought you would handle that," he said, before adding sarcastically, "You are the brains of this operation, are you not?"

"You're coming with us."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," his mouth twitched.  

"You should be around when we make decisions. I'm not going to have you complaining about what we've decided, and then holding me to some ridiculous deal later."

Magus scoffed at her persistence, mainly because she'd mentioned the possibility of him complaining like a child; did she really think him to be on the same level as the rest of them? He glared at her a bit, before gliding over to the lighted area around the lamppost, where everyone else was gathered and waiting. Upon arriving, Magus received a death glare from Frog.

"Ah! You have returned!" said the man who stood watch at the dim post. "Come to hear my…say, what is this?" He looked around him and noticed the solemn faces of the group. Ayla was staring at the ground, tracing patterns with her hands as she sat and for once with nothing to say; Frog's gaze was cast away from the rest of the group, towards the portal that led to Lavos, seemingly in memory of some significant thing. Marle was sitting on the ground with her knees held to her chest, and she too stared at the ground, a sad and pale visage showing in the lamplight. Robo was standing quite perfectly still, his head the only moving part of his body as it turned back and forth, taking in the countenances of the others. There was a new face in the small band of travelers, and whatever his emotions on the thing, though they were hidden quite well and open to anyone's guess, he did not look in the slightest bit joyful. And lastly, Lucca stood contrapposto, her weight shifted to one side of her body, as she stared straight into the lamplight above him.

Marle looked up at Lucca, who was avoiding the old man's gaze. She pushed herself up off of the floor and strode straight up to the man with a quiet dignity and looked him in the eyes for a full ten seconds before answering, "Crono…didn't make it back." Her eyes were beginning to water again, and she had to turn her head away, but the man understood her words.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I really don't know what to say. I know…there is an old song that describes it perfectly. Oh…I'm sorry. I wish I could lend a hand…"

Lucca cut in. "We're looking for the guru of time. Do you know where we could find him?"

"The guru of time, eh? I've heard of him…but what do you want with him?"

Marle was the one to respond, softly and with a far-off look in her eyes. "He can help us bring Crono back…"

The old man shook his head sadly. "To bring back lost loved ones…it's what everybody wants. Crono must be proud, to have friends like you."

Lucca looked back at Marle, who gave her a defeated gaze. Lucca felt even worse after seeing this in Marle's face, and Marle immediately tried to smile, so that Lucca wouldn't think she had failed in some way. Marle mouthed to Lucca, "We tried…" and then walked over to the Epoch, to sit underneath one of the wings. Lucca watched the others follow, hanging their heads in defeat as well. Magus shot Lucca a look that seemed to say, "I don't know what's going through your head, but we made a deal."

Or it could have been an "Are you still going to help me?" but Lucca didn't quite believe those to be the words of Magus.

'Don't you worry,' she thought to herself. 'I don't go back on my word, even if it is to someone like you. Just one more thing I have to do before I die. Before I die…'

"Hey, wait!" Lucca turned her head towards the man who still stood in place underneath the lamp post. He gave her a sad smile, but in his eyes, there was something more. "I think I might be able to do…something for you after all."

(A/N): It had been waaaaay too long since I'd updated this fic. I owed this one to all of you. I hope you enjoyed it.


	5. Trust May be Too Strong a Word

**Things Unseen, Chapter 5: **

**Trust May be Too Strong a Word**

**By Darknightdestiny**

Lucca looked at the old man skeptically. 'Just like that?' she thought. The man had cheered up considerably given the circumstances, as if he had just remembered something that would be of use to them. She figured it would be wise to take a chance, since they apparently had nothing left to lose.

"You can help us?" she asked him, loud enough for the others to hear. Marle's head was the first to bolt up with new hope; she would jump at any chance given her if it meant bringing Crono back to them. She ran back to Lucca's side and watched the man's face with anticipation of some sign that he was filling them with a false hope, only trying to curb their sorrow. She saw that he was sincere and readying himself to continue, and so she waited patiently for an explanation.

The others soon filed around, and the man began to offer a bit of hope. This hope came in the form of a strange egg, which Ayla at one point tried to eat. The man kept glancing over at Magus, who had gone back to leaning against the railing and scowling at the mist that occasionally curled up around his feet. He didn't seem to be interested in the plan at all, and though anyone else would have questioned why on earth he had joined the rest of the group, the old man knew exactly why, for he saw most things quite clearly from his post near the gates.

The situation posed was simple in theory, but it would require a great deal of effort and commitment. Since Crono's friends were so committed to him, the effort needed would come naturally, as a result of that commitment. Lucca didn't need to worry about whether or not her friends would be willing to go along with it; they had felt that they were unable to complete their quest without Crono, and so they wouldn't be losing anything in the way of the future if they sacrificed their well-being to try to bring him back. Besides, they had begun to think of him as more then their leader; Lucca had known him her entire life, but the rest of them had come to look at him as their close friend as well. Traveling together on such an important mission, the group had become close, like a second family even. Lucca's thoughts wandered to what it would be like when they finally had to part ways.

They were to take the egg to Belthasar's Nu in 2300 A.D., where it would tell them what to do with it, and offer them help in getting anything else they would need. The old man told them that being from the future, Belthasar had been able to study all the available theories of time travel that had been developed during the reign of the human species, and because of that, he would be able to help them best. The egg held a certain potential; there was no guarantee that it would hold the power to bring Crono back, but if they held on to their hope, they would never feel the need to give up, and if they continued to work for it, some day they would find a way to see him again.

When he was finished explaining his idea to the group he turned to Magus again and said, "I see...so that's your story..." Magus turned to the man with a wary look, searching the man's face to find the thing he was referring to, whatever it was. How could that man know his story? He went on, his mouth slowly turning up. "You've become quite formidable as well."

Magus' short appraisal of the man's expression was halted immediately as he recognized him. In fact, he had seen him only half a day before. "I get it. It's you." Short and to the point, Magus made it clear that he understood the man's allusion, and it wasn't long before Lucca caught on. Who else would Magus have known in his lifetime that had the opportunity to come to the End of Time, and would also know of all these things?

"Wait...are _you_ Gaspar, the Guru of Time?" Lucca asked him.

He looked into her eyes, lost in the memories of his home. "I believe that is what they used to call me...a long time ago."

Smiling, she nodded to him and looked around at all the others. They nodded back and turned to go, walking towards the Epoch. Lucca walked over to Marle and took her hand, holding the egg out with her own, and placed the object in the other girl's hand. Lucca closed Marle's hand around the egg and said, "Keep this safe at all costs. Keep it close to your heart, understand? We won't let anything happen to you...just concentrate on this one thing, okay?" Marle nodded her head and followed the others over to the giant time machine. Magus waited at the stairs, still unfazed by the whole event.

When Lucca reached Magus, she stopped to talk to him again. "You'll be coming with us until our agreement is up."

He shot her a sideways glance. "You want to keep an eye on me, do you?" he asked, a small smile of amusement playing on his face, along with slitted eyes. Why should she trust him? From the look he was giving off at that moment, paired with his comment, it seemed as if he was thinking of all the satisfaction he would get from doing something awful to the others the moment she left him behind. She suspected this was the effect he was going for.

"If you want the truth, I do. I don't trust you at all, Magus. I don't even know you, but I do know you're not one to play fair."

Both his brows shot up in feigned surprise, the small smirk still evident. "Now what on earth makes you say that?"

Lucca just rolled her eyes at him and then shot her arm out to point over in Frog's direction. She directed a hard gaze of annoyance at him, something in it saying, "Uh...hello? Remember that?!"

"Ah...I see." His eyes squinted up even more and his smile grew wider. "Are you afraid I will turn your friends into forest creatures?"

"I don't see why this is so funny."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"That...is very childish of you."

"Do you think so? I think it is ironic, a much more sophisticated sense of humor, but I can see why you don't look at it from my point of view. I will go with you in any case; I wouldn't trust you to do this correctly anyway," he condescended to her, "but let me make myself clear on one point. You don't tell me what to do." His smirk had started to fade. "You may have control over this little entourage of yours, but I am not a part of it. I am here for one thing, and one thing only- two if you count your aim as one and my aim as another- and that is to get my revenge on Lavos. I'm not doing it for the planet, or for any of its miserable people. I am helping you, because you are going to help me get what I want. I am not one of your friends, only a temporary ally, and I only follow one person's orders. Mine."

"...You need our help then, you admit that?"

"You are depending on me as much as I am on you. But you knew that right from the start; you were smart enough to figure that out. I'm not asking that you trust me. I wouldn't trust me. But you can't help it, because right now you don't have a choice. If you think you can do it alone, be my guest, but I seriously doubt that you can. It's not trust, child, it's survival."

"...I really don't want to depend on you of all people for survival, Magus." Lucca's face twisted into a look of resentment at the thought.

"Oh, poor girl," he mocked her. "I suppose you can call it a necessary evil."

"What if we try to go it alone? What makes you think we can't do it?" Lucca looked a bit scared in anticipation of his answer, but she held her own nonetheless. Magus simply nodded his head over in the direction of Marle, who was standing over by the ship, watching Ayla tumble around on the floor, expressionless at the sight of the cavewoman's sommersaulting.

"Do you see that girl over there?"

"Her name," she retorted in another bout of annoyance, "is Marle."

"That is irrelevant. Do you see her face? What do you see there?"

"...Sadness."

"No. There is sadness, but it stems from hopelessness."

Lucca turned her head back to Magus, who was still looking off into the distance, but past the others rather than at them. "And since when were you a believer in hope?"

"I'm not. I think the situation is completely hopeless, but I'd rather go out giving everything I can to make that...thing...pay for what it has done. The difference between that girl-"

"Marle."

Magus sighed. "The difference between Marle and myself is that where hopelessness will not affect me whatsoever, it has broken her spirit. I have seen her twice previously, and when I did...she reminded me of my sister; very lively, that one. Now she seems nothing more than a shell, and I don't believe that she'll ever be the same again, unless we get that ignorant boy back. I'm still not convinced that she'll ever be the same, but she might be better for it. I on the other hand, have lived in darkness my entire life, and it's not going to deter me now."

Lucca stuck one hand on her hip and glared at him, begging him to give her a break. "You honestly think that Marle will be better off if she became more like you?"

"I only think that she should try to see things more sensibly."

"She is not naive, if that's what you're implying."

"Not anymore, she's not. That is what has destroyed her, because she was weak. And I wasn't implying, I was stating it for a fact. Did any of you honestly think that he wouldn't die? Because I doubt she believed he would die. She must have seen him as invincible. Even I could see the way she watched him when we fought at the castle, worrying over him as if by one look she could wish away any harm that would come to him. She looked at him the same way when he died, lost in a trance. She was nothing but a lovesick girl who couldn't tell fantasy from reality."

"You're a cruel and bitter, miserable man."

"Indeed. They say that ignorance is bliss."

"We are not ignorant."

"...If you say so." 

Magus turned and walked towards the ship, prepared to join the rest of them on their journey to restore Crono. Lucca watched him go, her brain burning with rage, though outside she retained her composure. What she truly wanted was to smack the mage upside the head and see how he dealt with her own little version of reality, but she was afraid of being ripped apart with his extremely large threshing blade. She wasn't quite ready to test his patience any further than she already had.

She questioned herself again on the issue of why she had brought him along. She knew she didn't trust him, though on further exploration of her motives, she found that she wanted to. So afraid that he'd butcher her friends on their first night together in an inn, she still wasn't prepared to let him throw his life away on revenge if he could make it through alive. She didn't think he and she could do it alone, but she thought that maybe if they got Crono back, they would have a chance.

She didn't expect the others to want to help Magus defeat Zeal. She also thought that it would be unfair to ask Crono to help after everything he gave up to help them the first time, only to be awakened to do it all over again. But maybe if Magus helped them, they'd be willing to help him defeat her. She suspected that there were other reasons for his wanting to do so that didn't have to do with Lavos directly, but she figured she would try to extract those from him later. Right now, she had to get Crono back safely for all of them.

After that, she had made a deal with Magus, and she couldn't go back on it. She knew he couldn't do it by himself, but she was also positive that the two of them couldn't do it alone. She didn't want to take Marle along, even though she knew the princess would be the one most likely to take pity on the sorcerer, other than herself. But Magus didn't want pity; he wanted action. Ayla, then? No...she wouldn't understand. Or would she? No, Lucca would take full responsibility for the deal she'd struck; she realized the others would need her as well if they were to finish their quest. In that case, she had better make it back alive.

If that was what he wanted, that's what he would get. It wasn't like she had a choice anyways, was it? He would hold her to her word, because that was what he needed from her. She hadn't expected him to admit his need to her so readily, but she assumed he didn't expect her to make a big deal about it. He made it clear to her that it was only human nature to strike deals like their own, though he would never call it "helping each other". He would call it "using each other", because that's what evil magicians with reputations to uphold do with the people they meet.

Lucca sighed and walked off towards the Epoch.

(A/N): ::winks:: So...if action is what he wants then that's what he'll get, eh? Hee. 

Wait, where was I? Oh...right, simple greeting. Hi! (And there it is.) I tried to get this one up sooner than the last update. I apologize again, and I feel the need to explain myself. I've been caught up in the middle of several projects, one being my Mid-term for my Art History course. If I don't maintain my grades, I'll lose my scholarship and owe a bunch of money that I just don't have right now. Also, I just moved into my own place, so I've been running around like a chicken with a severed head, trying to get everything in order, while trying to obtain a reasonable income so I can support myself. Simply put, it's been hard to try to find time to do everything there is to do. I make too many commitments, and now I have 4 fics going on simultaneously. Lucky me, one of them will only be a 3-part fic, but still.

Anyways, the sob story is over. Just wanted to explain myself and let you know I didn't give up and not write just because I "didn't feel like it" or didn't care. I've just been...busy, that's all.

I apologize if Magus seems out of character. I'm trying my best to keep him where he should be but also get my plot to work. Hope you are enjoying this.

...Thanks for still reading though. I have the nicest reviewers :)


	6. Hope Realized

**Things Unseen  
Chapter Six: Hope Realized  
By Darknightdestiny**

About half a minute later, the travellers found themselves underneath a dark grey sky. Ash fell down onto the hood of the Epoch in flakes that were violently caught up and carried away whenever the harsh winds would creep up on them. Directly above the ship, a red and orange ray broke through deep gray clouds, but that was the only source of light that could be seen. The lack of total blackness above was all there was to light their way.

Ayla bounded up the side of the ship and vaulted out of the just opened cockpit using her incredibly strong arms. She landed in a crouched position on the soft and rotting terrain, and she immediately put her hands out in front of her to catch herself, should she fall. She stood up and looked around the place, a blank expression on her face. "Lucca! Where this?" she asked.

Lucca watched Ayla's curiousity, though not whole-heartedly, since her attention was torn between the question posed to her and making sure that a certain wizard didn't fly off his hinges. Magus was, however, too busy leaning against the side of the ship to notice Lucca's discriminating glances.

Lucca stood up from her seat in the Epoch and placed one hand on the open glass shielding, while the other was placed on the edge of the cockpit. She stepped up onto the edge and hopped out, walking past Magus, and pretended to ignore his presence out of spite. "This," she said, as she approached the place where Ayla was standing, "is where Robo comes from."

Ayla nodded, though the others still doubted that she understood the concept fully. "Ayla know. This near Lucca's house?"

Lucca shook her head. "No...this is many days after."

Ayla held her head in frustration. "This hard." Then she scampered away to go and paw at the base of a fallen mass of wires.

"Miss Ayla," Frog exclaimed, "I emplore you, please...do not touch that-!"

There was a quick buzzing sound, and a few sparks flew, but that was about it. Ayla turned around and looked at the amphibious knight, a big grin plastered on her face. "Frog no worry. Ayla know. Lightning good!" Some of her hair was standing on end, due to the static charge, but otherwise, she seemed to be in an acceptible condition. Magus huffed and rolled his eyes, but to the others, who still had a pretty good memory of all the things they had done as a team, a different image was conjured in their heads.

The first time they had realized that Ayla could handle a high charge of energy, it had been an accident. They had been in the hunting grounds in prehistoric times, and Crono, Marle and Ayla were fighting monsters off, while Robo made runs back and forth from the entrance to the tropical forests and the trader's hut. He took all the odds and ends that the other three had managed to gather, and brought them to Frog and Lucca. They had stationed themselves within the trader's hut, and were in the middle of striking several deals.

It had started to rain, and one of the larger blue monsters had come out of hiding. They now knew that these creatures were called Nus, but at the time, they hadn't a clue that their species could possess so much knowledge. They were there for only one thing, and that was target practice.

While the Nus could be threatening and dangerous, they never attacked unless provoked on several occassions. What was more, they were very slow, and it was easy to keep tabs on them in the heat of the battle. Crono usually led the attack, and Ayla backed him up, while Marle stayed close by- but out of danger- in case anyone needed healing.

On this particular occassion, Crono had just finished focusing his energy towards summoning a lightning attack, and he was ready to let it loose. Without warning, Ayla jumped forward, flying with an incredible speed towards the monster, and right in his line of fire. To him, time slowed down and he felt the moment when he lost control of his energy clearly. His focus was knocked away from him, and the bolt let loose in the determined direction. Rather than hitting the monster, it passed through Ayla.

There had been a quick, bright flash, and then it was over. Crono and Marle uncovered their eyes to find Ayla standing over a rather charred-looking Nu as it lay on the ground. There were several bite marks on its body, all of them looking like they had been made by a human. Ayla didn't say much to it; she only demanded that it make reparations. "Ayla win! Now, give stuff." Or something to that effect.

Ever since then, whenever Crono and Ayla had fought side by side, they used their specially designed attack. The technique had happened by chance, but it worked quite well. Lucca had mentioned something once or twice about how she hoped Ayla would have no long-term damage, and how Crono was going to destroy the entire human race, or at least turn them into vegetables. But nothing bad had happened to them just yet, so they assumed they were in the clear.

The others were a bit disheartened at the loss of their friend, and since Magus was the only one who hadn't been around for any warm and fuzzy moments, not that he would have participated in them anyways, he felt nothing towards the simplistic scene. And to Lucca, it seemed like as good a time as any to take her frustrations out on him.

She sighed audibly. "Alright, we all know what we came here to do. Now, let's get on with it, so we can hurry up and bring Crono back, and then get this thing over with." She glared in Magus' direction. "That means you too, Mr. No Personality."

Magus shrugged the comment off casually. "Well, I hardly think that was merited," he replied in a smooth, rich and nonchalant tone.

Perhaps the comment wasn't merited. Lucca could think of many things to attribute to Magus' personality, none of them positive. Already being on edge, every little thing that Magus had done since they had left the End of Time had caught her attention, and it was pulling at some nerve hidden deep inside her body. This time, she had been angry with him for rolling his eyes at Ayla, and she had blamed it on the idea that he thought he was better than anyone else present. And most likely, anyone else not present as well.

No, he definitely had some kind of a personality.

In reality, Lucca was just angry overall, and she wanted someone to backhand. Magus wasn't going to be that person, simply because he was much bigger and stronger than she was. Instead, she would have to settle for a huff of annoyance and another short comment. "Look. You don't have to like everybody here-"

"You're catching on."

Lucca ignored him. "But you do have to work together with us."

"Is that so?"

Lucca glared at Magus and kept walking towards the large dome where they had met Balthasar, previous to his disappearance. She called back to him over her shoulder. "I would think that you would be the most interested in this. After all, you did grow up with the man."

Magus sneered at her, and she turned back to her destination, mocking the evil look he had just given her. To think that she was the one who was bound to him in their agreement, while he hadn't had much of a problem with the others at all. At least, that was how it appeared on the surface.

Lucca followed Ayla up to the dome, at which point Lucca became the leader, since Ayla passed their destination completely. Frog went over to where Ayla was exploring, and directed her, with a small bit of difficulty, to where the rest of them were gathered at the front entrance. Robo seemed familiar with the place, since all of the buildings in his era were built to a similar design, even though he hadn't been with Crono, Lucca and Marle when they had first visited the area. That was long before they had any idea that there was a time machine hidden behind that peculiar door.

"...Can we get on with this already?"

Lucca was ready to lunge at Magus, but Marle cut in with, "Oh, yes! We're finally here...let's see what we can do!" The girl was over-excited, and it became obvious to Lucca that she was trying extra hard to not let her pain be a burden to everyone else, or a hindrance to the task set before them.

Distracted by Marle's sudden exclamation of happiness, or rather, lack of sadness and admittance of hope, Lucca forgot to send a biting remark the way of the Sorcerer. Instead, she placed her hnds on Marle's shoulders and gave her a sad smile while nodding. The rest of the group filed in, Magus bringing up the back of the line.

The air outside of the dome was cold and biting, and that one red ray of light from the sky did little to warm them. The air inside of the dome, however, was dank and musty. The temperature was still very cold, but it was also wet. The flakes falling outside of the building were nothing but dust, but within the steel walls, there was a thick feeling that spread through their lungs like a steam from a bath...only freezing.

Lucca quickly made her way down the stairs and around the giant computer that was centered on the lower floor. She climbed back up the second set of stairs on the left, skipping every other step as she went, and stopped when she reached the door with the strange crest on it. "Marle," she called to her friend, "I need you over here."

She turned around and Marle was already there. Apparently, she'd followed her from the start, being that she was the most excited for any possibility of Crono's return. Over Marle's shoulder, Lucca spotted the rest of the group standing in the area behind the computer. Frog was watching Lucca, and Robo was watching Ayla. Ayla was bouncing up and down on the metal floor, kicking it with the heel of her boot and marveling at the sound it made. Magus was leaned up against the computer, his arms folded on his chest, and his eyes closed.

Lucca almost wished that a fuse would blow, and that Magus would receive a nasty shock. She already knew that it wouldn't kill him, he being a dark mage and also no doubt having been hit with several bolts of energy in the past. Still, she felt she needed his help.

...If this didn't work, that is.

It still wasn't too late to call it off. Magus hadn't done anything much to help them yet; they hadn't fought against anything side by side, though he had told them that they needed to look for the Guru of Time when he'd been sitting in the Epoch, pointedly ignoring the glares that Frog had been sending his way.

"Lucca?" The scientist looked back over to the voice in front of her, Marle's sweetly innocent visage coming into view. "You said you needed me here, right?" She held up the pendant that dangled from her neck, and it began to react to the doorway.

Magus watched with half-lidded eyes from his vantage point by the computer. Somehow, the familiar light soothed his senses, and it looked much prettier through half-lidded eyes; the blue rays would thin out and lengthen, and the center of the light source would become brighter, while everything else would seem to fade...

That was how it had always looked best.

Lucca turned to Marle as the door began to slide upwards, back into the crevice that was given to the ceiling. "Marle...I think you should do this."

Marle grinned at her. "We can all do this!"

Lucca shook her head. "No...what I mean is, I think you should do this alone."

Marle tilted her head at her friend. "Why?"

"I seriously doubt there will be anything in there that you'll need assistance with. The door was locked, so there won't be any monsters in there. Just...I want you to have this time to yourself. This...this is for you."

Marle regarded her friend with a thoughtful look for a minute, and then she gave in. "I don't know what to say..."

"Don't say anything. Just go. We'll be waiting for you when you get back."

Marle jumped forward and hugged her. "Thanks, Lucca!"

"Yes, yes. Now go! The sooner you get in there, the sooner we can get Crono!"

Marle nodded enthusiastically and ran off. Lucca walked back to where the others were standing. She nodded her head once at Magus, letting him know that she was only acknowledging his presence and nothing more. Theirs was more of a business deal than anything resembling a friendship. She wasn't angry at him, but merely frustrated with his stubborness and smug attitude. She didn't really want the computer to fry his brains. She just wanted to deal him one good blow that would knock him off of his high horse.

Inside of the chamber, Marle turned to the left and immediately started running towards the other door, where Balthasar's Nu was waiting for her. It seemed to know she was coming before she had even stepped inside of the first door. It regarded her with a blank expression as always, but its eyes seemed to hold a secret that it was dying to tell her.

She stopped when she reached the Nu and opened her mouth to talk, but she was cut off. "To revive a lost loved one," the Nu began, "that person must be important to the space-time continuum..."

Marle listened intently to everything that the Nu had to say, and then she made her way back to the rest of the group.


End file.
